The complainant, who also filed a separate complaint against Horner to the FIA, responded by activating her right to appeal the verdict. She’s also reportedly considering taking her case to an employment tribunal.

The female is currently suspended by Red Bull after messages allegedly sent by Horner, 50, were leaked into the public domain. And according to the Sun, she will be ‘grilled’ by investigators again next week.

Both sides have signed confidentiality agreements but an F1 insider has implied that full details of the saga could be revealed once the appeal process is complete. “No one wants this to drag on any longer than it needs to,” they were quoted as saying.

“Red Bull has made it clear that once the appeal is over, they are willing to be fully transparent. They don’t want to do anything that compromises the process but when it’s done, the gloves are off.”

Horner continued in his role throughout the initial investigation, and has frequently maintained his innocence. And in an apparent show of support, wife Geri Halliwell flew to the Middle East at short notice to be by his side for races in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

But the controversy has undoubtedly prompted problems within Red Bull. Horner’s future has been the subject of speculation after reportedly falling out with team advisor Helmut Marko, who has declined to publicly back his colleague.

Jos Verstappen, the father of three-time world champion Max, also publicly called for the team to remove Horner from his role. That has inevitably led to the Dutch driver being linked to a move elsewhere, despite being contracted at Red Bull until 2028.

The saga has not affected team performance on the track though. Verstappen has won three of the four races thus far in 2024, and again leads the drivers’ standings from teammate Sergio Perez.